It's 12pm and you're drinking a $6 flat white at a trendy coffee house with your good friends from university."How are you?" "How's that grad job going?" "Have you met anyone serious?" These are all the common place questions we've asked and answered.

"What are your goals?" "What's your plan for the next year?" "What are you inspired by?" These are the questions we should be asking. These are the questions we should be answering.​But not to our friends over a obviously poorly brewed coffee-- but to ourselves, as corny as it sounds.

A sense of doubt sets in as one of your friends describes their new job in digital marketing. "Am I behind?" you ask yourself. "Where the fuck am I heading?". With every passing moment you start to question how you spent your late nights watching YouTube videos of Jeffree Star's new Velour Matte Lipsticks and scrolling through what felt like 5 hours of funny Facebook videos. And the reality of it all is this— you're indulging too much. You've gotten used to the routine. The safe space is your bubble and each self expectation is like a pin ready to pop this bubble.

Self expectations are healthy. It's the key to motivate the completion of your goals. It's something you share with yourself and only yourself. Social expectations on the other hand are ideas we throw at the people around us to "buy time" or create a perception that isn't true to who we are. Each self expectation you set upon yourself makes you accountable to make your life better and fuller. Meanwhile each social expectation you set upon yourself makes you retreat back into your bubble.

​The trick here is this— do you. It's that simple.Contrary to belief, I don't believe life to be a race. Your friends aren't your competitors. They are your gold star in Mario Kart. They boost you up and are there to guide you in any way possible. The person you need to compare yourself to is you. Am I better off than I was this time last year? Have I achieved more than I have in previous years? Have I grown and matured as a person?

These are the questions we should be asking. These are the questions we should already know the answers to.